diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 065a6b2f..ca013f1b 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ New features:
 - Added `~psycopg2.extensions.Diagnostics` object to get extended info
   from a database error.  Many thanks to Matthew Woodcraft for the
   implementation (:ticket:`#149`).
+- Added `connection.cursor_factory` attribute to customize the default
+  object returned by `~connection.cursor()`.
 - Added support for backward scrollable cursors. Thanks to Jon Nelson
   for the initial patch (:ticket:`#108`).
 - Added a simple way to :ref:`customize casting of composite types
diff --git a/doc/src/advanced.rst b/doc/src/advanced.rst
index 5a4724e7..dafb1f58 100644
--- a/doc/src/advanced.rst
+++ b/doc/src/advanced.rst
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ More advanced topics
     wait(aconn)
     acurs = aconn.cursor()
 
+
 .. index::
     double: Subclassing; Cursor
     double: Subclassing; Connection
@@ -45,6 +46,16 @@ but other uses are possible. `cursor` is much more interesting, because
 it is the class where query building, execution and result type-casting into
 Python variables happens.
 
+The `~psycopg2.extras` module contains several examples of :ref:`connection
+and cursor sublcasses <cursor-subclasses>`.
+
+.. note::
+
+    If you only need a customized cursor class, since Psycopg 2.5 you can use
+    the `~connection.cursor_factory` parameter of a regular connection instead
+    of creating a new `!connection` subclass.
+
+
 .. index::
     single: Example; Cursor subclass
 
diff --git a/doc/src/connection.rst b/doc/src/connection.rst
index f7ff4b19..0842aca4 100644
--- a/doc/src/connection.rst
+++ b/doc/src/connection.rst
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ The ``connection`` class
         The *cursor_factory* argument can be used to create non-standard
         cursors. The class returned must be a subclass of
         `psycopg2.extensions.cursor`. See :ref:`subclassing-cursor` for
-        details.
+        details. A default factory for the connection can also be specified
+        using the `~connection.cursor_factory` attribute.
 
         .. versionchanged:: 2.4.3 added the *withhold* argument.
         .. versionchanged:: 2.5 added the *scrollable* argument.
@@ -504,6 +505,15 @@ The ``connection`` class
             the payload was not accessible. To keep backward compatibility,
             `!Notify` objects can still be accessed as 2 items tuples.
 
+
+    .. attribute:: cursor_factory
+
+        The default cursor factory used by `~connection.cursor()` if the
+        parameter is no specified.
+
+        .. versionadded:: 2.5
+
+
     .. index::
         pair: Backend; PID
 
diff --git a/doc/src/extensions.rst b/doc/src/extensions.rst
index 6df90fd2..9465789c 100644
--- a/doc/src/extensions.rst
+++ b/doc/src/extensions.rst
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ The module contains a few objects and function extending the minimum set of
 functionalities defined by the |DBAPI|_.
 
 
-.. class:: connection
+.. class:: connection(dsn, async=False)
 
     Is the class usually returned by the `~psycopg2.connect()` function.
     It is exposed by the `extensions` module in order to allow
@@ -21,11 +21,9 @@ functionalities defined by the |DBAPI|_.
     `!connect()` function using the `connection_factory` parameter.
     See also :ref:`subclassing-connection`.
 
-    Subclasses should have constructor signature :samp:`({dsn}, {async}=0)`.
-
     For a complete description of the class, see `connection`.
 
-.. class:: cursor
+.. class:: cursor(conn, name=None)
 
     It is the class usually returnded by the `connection.cursor()`
     method. It is exposed by the `extensions` module in order to allow
diff --git a/doc/src/extras.rst b/doc/src/extras.rst
index d1c43030..2a82af8d 100644
--- a/doc/src/extras.rst
+++ b/doc/src/extras.rst
@@ -16,22 +16,27 @@ This module is a generic place used to hold little helper functions and
 classes until a better place in the distribution is found.
 
 
-.. index::
-    pair: Cursor; Dictionary
-
-.. _dict-cursor:
-
+.. _cursor-subclasses:
 
 Connection and cursor subclasses
 --------------------------------
 
 A few objects that change the way the results are returned by the cursor or
-modify the object behavior in some other way. Typically `!connection`
-subclasses are passed as *connection_factory* argument to
-`~psycopg2.connect()` so that the connection will generate the matching
-`!cursor` subclass. Alternatively a `!cursor` subclass can be used one-off by
-passing it as the *cursor_factory* argument to the `~connection.cursor()`
-method of a regular `!connection`.
+modify the object behavior in some other way. Typically `!cursor` subclasses
+are passed as *cursor_factory* argument to `~psycopg2.connect()` so that the
+connection's `~connection.cursor()` method will generate objects of this
+class.  Alternatively a `!cursor` subclass can be used one-off by passing it
+as the *cursor_factory* argument to the `!cursor()` method.
+
+If you want to use a `!connection` subclass you can pass it as the
+*connection_factory* argument of the `!connect()` function.
+
+
+.. index::
+    pair: Cursor; Dictionary
+
+.. _dict-cursor:
+
 
 Dictionary-like cursor
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
@@ -61,6 +66,11 @@ The records still support indexing as the original tuple:
 
 .. autoclass:: DictConnection
 
+    .. note::
+
+        Not very useful since Psycopg 2.5: you can use `psycopg2.connect`\
+        ``(dsn, cursor_factory=DictCursor)`` instead of `!DictConnection`.
+
 .. autoclass:: DictRow
 
 
@@ -71,6 +81,12 @@ Real dictionary cursor
 
 .. autoclass:: RealDictConnection
 
+    .. note::
+
+        Not very useful since Psycopg 2.5: you can use `psycopg2.connect`\
+        ``(dsn, cursor_factory=RealDictCursor)`` instead of
+        `!RealDictConnection`.
+
 .. autoclass:: RealDictRow
 
 
@@ -101,6 +117,12 @@ expect it to be... ::
 
 .. autoclass:: NamedTupleConnection
 
+    .. note::
+
+        Not very useful since Psycopg 2.5: you can use `psycopg2.connect`\
+        ``(dsn, cursor_factory=NamedTupleCursor)`` instead of
+        `!NamedTupleConnection`.
+
 
 .. index::
     pair: Cursor; Logging
diff --git a/doc/src/module.rst b/doc/src/module.rst
index a998015a..feaef516 100644
--- a/doc/src/module.rst
+++ b/doc/src/module.rst
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ The module interface respects the standard defined in the |DBAPI|_.
     single: DSN (Database Source Name)
 
 .. function::
-    connect(dsn, connection_factory=None, async=False)
-    connect(\*\*kwargs, connection_factory=None, async=False)
+    connect(dsn, connection_factory=None, cursor_factory=None, async=False)
+    connect(\*\*kwargs, connection_factory=None, cursor_factory=None, async=False)
 
     Create a new database session and return a new `connection` object.
 
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ The module interface respects the standard defined in the |DBAPI|_.
 
     The two call styles are mutually exclusive: you cannot specify connection
     parameters as keyword arguments together with a connection string; only
-    *connection_factory* and *async* are supported together with the *dsn*
-    argument.
+    the parameters not needed for the database connection (*i.e.*
+    *connection_factory*, *cursor_factory*, and *async*) are supported
+    together with the *dsn* argument.
 
     The basic connection parameters are:
 
@@ -61,7 +62,9 @@ The module interface respects the standard defined in the |DBAPI|_.
     Using the *connection_factory* parameter a different class or
     connections factory can be specified. It should be a callable object
     taking a *dsn* string argument. See :ref:`subclassing-connection` for
-    details.
+    details.  If a *cursor_factory* is specified, the connection's
+    `~connection.cursor_factory` is set to it. If you only need customized
+    cursors you can use this parameter instead of subclassing a connection.
 
     Using *async*\=\ `!True` an asynchronous connection will be created: see
     :ref:`async-support` to know about advantages and limitations.
@@ -70,6 +73,9 @@ The module interface respects the standard defined in the |DBAPI|_.
         any keyword argument is passed to the connection. Previously only the
         basic parameters (plus `!sslmode`) were supported as keywords.
 
+    .. versionchanged:: 2.5
+        added the *cursor_factory* parameter.
+
     .. seealso::
 
         - libpq `connection string syntax`__
diff --git a/lib/__init__.py b/lib/__init__.py
index e9618fd0..c3f23a69 100644
--- a/lib/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/__init__.py
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ del re
 
 def connect(dsn=None,
         database=None, user=None, password=None, host=None, port=None,
-        connection_factory=None, async=False, **kwargs):
+        connection_factory=None, cursor_factory=None, async=False, **kwargs):
     """
     Create a new database connection.
 
@@ -126,6 +126,9 @@ def connect(dsn=None,
     factory can be specified. It should be a callable object taking a dsn
     argument.
 
+    Using the *cursor_factory* parameter, a new default cursor factory will be
+    used by cursor().
+
     Using *async*=True an asynchronous connection will be created.
 
     Any other keyword parameter will be passed to the underlying client
@@ -158,7 +161,11 @@ def connect(dsn=None,
             dsn = " ".join(["%s=%s" % (k, _param_escape(str(v)))
                 for (k, v) in items])
 
-    return _connect(dsn, connection_factory=connection_factory, async=async)
+    conn = _connect(dsn, connection_factory=connection_factory, async=async)
+    if cursor_factory is not None:
+        conn.cursor_factory = cursor_factory
+
+    return conn
 
 
 __all__ = filter(lambda k: not k.startswith('_'), locals().keys())
diff --git a/psycopg/connection.h b/psycopg/connection.h
index 129239c4..07dfe2e7 100644
--- a/psycopg/connection.h
+++ b/psycopg/connection.h
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ struct connectionObject {
 
     int autocommit;
 
+    PyObject *cursor_factory;    /* default cursor factory from cursor() */
 };
 
 /* map isolation level values into a numeric const */
diff --git a/psycopg/connection_type.c b/psycopg/connection_type.c
index 9937fdb1..679eb0c7 100644
--- a/psycopg/connection_type.c
+++ b/psycopg/connection_type.c
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ psyco_conn_cursor(connectionObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwargs)
 
     EXC_IF_CONN_CLOSED(self);
 
+    if (self->cursor_factory && self->cursor_factory != Py_None) {
+        factory = self->cursor_factory;
+    }
+
     if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(
             args, kwargs, "|OOOO", kwlist,
             &name, &factory, &withhold, &scrollable)) {
@@ -1013,6 +1017,8 @@ static struct PyMemberDef connectionObject_members[] = {
     {"status", T_INT,
         offsetof(connectionObject, status), READONLY,
         "The current transaction status."},
+    {"cursor_factory", T_OBJECT, offsetof(connectionObject, cursor_factory), 0,
+        "Default cursor_factory for cursor()."},
     {"string_types", T_OBJECT, offsetof(connectionObject, string_types), READONLY,
         "A set of typecasters to convert textual values."},
     {"binary_types", T_OBJECT, offsetof(connectionObject, binary_types), READONLY,
diff --git a/tests/test_connection.py b/tests/test_connection.py
index c5d884c5..26ad9329 100755
--- a/tests/test_connection.py
+++ b/tests/test_connection.py
@@ -224,6 +224,31 @@ class ConnectionTests(ConnectingTestCase):
 
         self.assert_(not notices, "%d notices raised" % len(notices))
 
+    def test_connect_cursor_factory(self):
+        import psycopg2.extras
+        conn = self.connect(cursor_factory=psycopg2.extras.DictCursor)
+        cur = conn.cursor()
+        cur.execute("select 1 as a")
+        self.assertEqual(cur.fetchone()['a'], 1)
+
+    def test_cursor_factory(self):
+        self.assertEqual(self.conn.cursor_factory, None)
+        cur = self.conn.cursor()
+        cur.execute("select 1 as a")
+        self.assertRaises(TypeError, (lambda r: r['a']), cur.fetchone())
+
+        self.conn.cursor_factory = psycopg2.extras.DictCursor
+        self.assertEqual(self.conn.cursor_factory, psycopg2.extras.DictCursor)
+        cur = self.conn.cursor()
+        cur.execute("select 1 as a")
+        self.assertEqual(cur.fetchone()['a'], 1)
+
+        self.conn.cursor_factory = None
+        self.assertEqual(self.conn.cursor_factory, None)
+        cur = self.conn.cursor()
+        cur.execute("select 1 as a")
+        self.assertRaises(TypeError, (lambda r: r['a']), cur.fetchone())
+
 
 class IsolationLevelsTestCase(ConnectingTestCase):